الهدف السابع – تقرير

H.E. Prof. Dr. Abdulrahman bin Hamad Al-Daoud, Rector of the University, stressed that achieving environmental sustainability is one of the most important pillars of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, in order to raise the efficiency of waste management and reduce pollution, as the Kingdom as an active member of the international system, especially in the Group of Twenty, which seeks to achieve the United Nations goals of sustainable development, pointing out that the issue of waste management is linked to a number of UN goals, including industry, innovation, infrastructure, sustainable cities, sustainable production and consumption, as well as reducing climate change. 
This came during the patronage of His Excellency the Rector of the University, for the First International Conference on the Sustainability of Natural Resources: Sustainable Management of Solid Waste, which began on Tuesday morning, 8/3/1441 AH, and which is organized by the Faculty of Engineering at the University and the Center for Sustainable Development, at the headquarters of the main lobby in the University City for men, and for women in the theater of the Faculty of Economics and Management, over two days with the participation of 36 speakers to cover all the axes and objectives of this scientific meeting, which aims to discuss the necessary measures to transform into sustainable food systems. 
Al-Daoud added that the university seeks to achieve sustainability through its centers, research and scientists, through a system of integration and cooperation between its units, educational and research programs, thanking the sponsors of the conference, the Qassim Municipality, and all contributing sectors inside and outside the university. 
His Excellency the Rector also inaugurated the exhibition accompanying the conference, in which 6 government and private entities participate, including a corner for the Qassim Municipality, a corner for the College of Engineering, a corner for the Center for Sustainable Development, a corner for the City Cement Company, the Cleaning Machinery Factory Company Ltd., and the Fahad Company, and witnessed the signing ceremony of a memorandum of cooperation between the Faculty of Engineering at the University and the City Cement Company. 
For his part, the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Conference, Prof. Dr. Khalid Bani Al-Harbi, Vice President for Planning, Development and Quality, spoke about the importance of this conference, which comes in harmony with the University’s sense of its strategic role in the Kingdom in general and in the region in particular, and as an embodiment of the aspirations of the Kingdom emanating from its Vision 2030, which gave great importance to the economic fields and the areas of quality of life, pointing out that the University has adopted a number of academic activities to embody this role, the most important of which is this type of scientific meetings, in addition to supporting research in This field and the inclusion of sustainability concepts in the courses of academic programs, and recently the launch of the sustainable university project supervised by His Excellency the Rector of the University and under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Dr. Faisal bin Meshaal bin Saud bin Abdulaziz, Amir of the region. 
Al-Harbi added that the Organizing Committee has held more than 12 lengthy meetings to prepare for the conference, while the meetings of the other executive committees exceeded more than 30 working meetings, 19 of which were for the Scientific Committee, and the working hours of the preparatory team amounted to more than 150 working hours, and the working group included more than 36 members, and this work resulted in the participation of more than 15 countries with 168 participants, and more than 120 scientific papers were arbitrated. 
Al-Harbi explained that the organizing committee and those in charge of this conference, which is dedicated to sustainability concept and research through participants and interested parties, decided that the conference should go beyond this to be sustainable even with an organizational printer, offering thanks and appreciation to partners for success represented by the strategic partner City Cement Company, the silver sponsor Al-Fahad Company, the supporting sponsor of the Qassim Municipality, and the parties cooperating with the conference, which comes at the forefront of which is the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture represented by the Environment Agency and the Ministry’s branch in the region represented by His Excellency Eng. Salman Al-Suwaina, as well as The General Directorate of Education in the region is represented by His Excellency Mr. Saleh Al-Jasser for their constructive cooperation to make this conference a success. 
After that, the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Dr. Meshal bin Ibrahim Al-Mushaiqah, said that the Faculty of Engineering at the University attaches great importance to the topics of sustainability of natural resources for their specialized nature, to be one of the most important arms of the University to achieve this lofty purpose next to the relevant specialized authorities from colleges and other units, the most important of which is the Center for Sustainable Development at the University, as a partner in the organization and incubator of the conference with the College in the establishment of this qualitative international forum. 
He pointed out that the conference aims to show the size of natural and economic resources wasted and estimate the environmental cost of waste, as well as discuss the necessary measures to transform into sustainable food systems where waste is reduced and food waste is reduced, in addition to stimulating integration between partners from different disciplines to manage waste in a sustainable manner, studying opportunities to stimulate investment in the development of waste recycling technologies in the Kingdom, and studying the obstacles to investment in the field of waste manufacturing industries, through several axes discussed by the conference, namely: Effective management, valued food and responsible citizen, attractive and ambitious investment, and a cohesive team to protect and sustain the environment. 
The organizers of the conference seek to contribute to the preparation of a vision on sustainable solid waste management at the national and global level, through the participation of a number of experts, academics and specialists from 15 countries in this field and discuss the results of the latest studies, research and scientific papers related to sustainable solid waste management through 6 sessions throughout the two days of the conference, in order to reduce the per capita consumption rates in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of some goods and services, which come within the highest rates globally, which increased the volume of solid waste generated, Reducing the depletion and degradation of natural resources due to high consumption rates, and transferring and localizing modern international technologies in the field of waste management in accordance with the conditions of the Kingdom. 
The Dean of the College of Engineering added that the conference also seeks to address the challenges arising from waste, which is the responsibility of each member of society, raise community awareness of the risks posed by waste generation, encourage initiatives aimed at improving sustainable waste management, and provide an opportunity to exchange experiences and knowledge among specialists in waste management and sustainable development. 
Hence, the speech of the sponsors was delivered by the Executive Director of City Cement, Mr. Majid bin Abdulrahman Al-Assilan, in which he stressed the existence of millions of tons of municipal waste estimated at billions of riyals, which contain organic and inorganic materials of foods and yes God love this blessed country and other materials that could have been recycled and converted into energy to achieve added value to the homeland, but unfortunately they end up in landfills, which is a kind of waste and contradicts our Islamic values and teachings. to the negative environmental impacts resulting from the backfilling of waste in the ground, some of which take more than 100 years to decompose in nature. 
Al-Osailan pointed to the risks of leakage of some harmful substances from those residues to the soil and groundwater or the risk of fires, pointing out that most of the developed European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium have a total amount of waste destined for landfills is almost zero, where no waste is backfilled and if necessary a very high fee is paid on the landfill to reduce these practices and protect the environment, by replacing the use of petroleum fuels with renewable energy and primitive fuels, offering sincere thanks and appreciation To all colleagues at the university and those in charge of this conference, for their blessed efforts and for what will contribute to achieving the directions of our wise government of raising awareness regarding the environment and sustainability, supporting coordination between the public and private sectors, and contributing to the achievement of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 to place the Kingdom in the ranks of developed countries. 
For his part, the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development, Mr. Ibrahim bin Saleh Al-Rabadi, spoke about the vision of the Center for Sustainable Development at the University for sustainability through the adoption of a balanced integrated approach to achieve equitable development between regions and generations, each takes his right and each carries out his duty towards his environment, society and economy to complete the three clusters of sustainability, and sustainability addresses the issue of waste in its physical, technical, social, technical, informatics, financial and economic dimensions. 
Al-Rabadi explained that waste management is linked to a number of UN goals, especially the ninth goal, which is industry, innovation and infrastructure, the eleventh goal related to sustainable cities, the twelfth goal on sustainable production and consumption, and the thirteenth goal, which is concerned with reducing climate change, and it is hoped from this conference to seek to diagnose problems accurately and develop appropriate solutions by scientists and experts gathered, and we hope that the objectives of this conference will be achieved and its recommendations translated into useful practical projects. 
The conference witnessed the presence of the Vice President of the University, Dr. Mohammed Al-Saawi, the Vice President for Educational Affairs, Dr. Mohammed Al-Odaib, the Vice President for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, Prof. Dr. Ahmed Al-Turki, Eng. Salman Al-Suwaina, Director of the Branch of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture in Qassim, Mr. Saleh Al-Jasser, Director of the Department of Education in the Qassim Region, Eng. Abdulmohsen Al-Faraihi, Director of the Directorate of Water in Qassim, Eng. Abdulaziz Al-Saleem, Deputy Secretary of the Qassim Region, and the deans of the faculties, faculty members and students at the University.